Protect the ball and force turnovers and odds are you're a winning team at the end of the season

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BY ARMANDO SALGUEROASALGUERO@MIAMIHERALD.COMEvery room where Miami Dolphins defensive players meet at the team’s training facility is decorated with footballs. No, the footballs aren’t in glass cases and don’t recall great past performances. They actually are a reminder of past failure …

And a demand for change.

The Dolphins, you see, are emphasizing turnovers this year. And those footballs are in place so that when defensive players enter and leave the rooms, they punch at the balls, they try to snatch the balls, they try to strip the balls from their perch as if practicing how to treat ballcarriers this upcoming season.

The idea the players should be getting is the Dolphins are putting a premium on causing turnovers.

“We constantly look for better ways of teaching, from little things like that,” defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle said. “We’ve got the footballs hanging from the walls in every defensive meeting room that they have to go in and when they walk in and out of the meeting rooms, they’re stripping and punching.

“It’s just a reminder.”

It reminds that last year the Dolphins were not nearly good enough at causing takeaways from opposing teams and were too generous in yielding turnovers. The team was minus-10 in takeaways, which means it had 10 more turnovers on offense and special teams than the defense and special teams took from opponents.

And that statistic, more than any other reason he can think of, is what coach Joe Philbin believes is the reason his team had a losing season.

Consider that cornerback Sean Smith, a big cornerback with big potential, was allowed to exit via free agency because he often got his hands on passes but rarely actually held on to those want-to-be interceptions.

The dropped interceptions were something of a theme during Smith’s time with the Dolphins and the club was so vexed by that, Miami didn’t even make Smith a contract offer after the season was over.

The club also jettisoned both linebackers Karlos Dansby and Kevin Burnett primarily because they simply didn’t turn the ball over for the team despite big reputations and paychecks that suggested they’d be making more game-defining plays.

Yes, Dansby and Burnett led the team in tackles – a combined 243 of them to be precise – but in all those opportunities around the football they also combined for zero fumble recoveries and only one forced fumble. And they did not manage even one interception between them despite being in the middle of all the action and in the game on practically every down.

So, are we thinking that the Dolphins (who start the season tomorrow) are not a more improved offence than last year?????? Are there unspoken doubts about our new quarterback? Maybe. But I say that if the Dolphins were just 10% better last year they would have made the playoffs. Remember the overtime games? Remember the lost games buy a couple of points? I am thinking that this team will at least make the playoffs and I will be thrilled with that.

This team will win the division and then have its toughest game of the season vs. The wildcard team it will face at home. This is the start to a team that will constantly make the playoffs and win multiple super bowls in the Ryan Tannehil era.

So, are we thinking that the Dolphins (who start the season tomorrow) are not a more improved offence than last year?????? Are there unspoken doubts about our new quarterback? Maybe. But I say that if the Dolphins were just 10% better last year they would have made the playoffs. Remember the overtime games? Remember the lost games buy a couple of points? I am thinking that this team will at least make the playoffs and I will be thrilled with that.

So, are we thinking that the Dolphins (who start the season tomorrow) are not a more improved offence than last year?????? Are there unspoken doubts about our new quarterback? Maybe. But I say that if the Dolphins were just 10% better last year they would have made the playoffs. Remember the overtime games? Remember the lost games buy a couple of points? I am thinking that this team will at least make the playoffs and I will be thrilled with that.

I agree with this post.

The Jets have clearly regressed! The Bills are similar to our position last year with a rookie QB and remain an open question whether they have improved. And the Pats are definitely not better than they were last year. The key with the Pats though is that have they slipped enough and have we improved enough to move past them?

We really need to be 5-1 in the division but I still think we will probably not meet that expectation. If the team can survive the first half of the season at least 500, then there is a real chance to do damage in the second half of the year.